Today's News Weekend Edition: Monday, February 18, 2013
Administration
U to work out kinks of year-round calendar
The University of Minnesota will implement a year-round calendar pilot program this fall, an alluring prospect to schools around the nation that are under pressure to be more efficient and cost effective. The new year-round option for two College of Design programs mirrors a nationwide trend in higher education. College of Design Dean Tom Fisher and Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education Robert McMaster comment.
Minnesota Daily
http://www.mndaily.com/2013/
Prospective faculty members audition
Many potential faculty members at higher education institutions give practice lectures as part of the hiring process. These “job talks” offer faculty and graduate students the chance to evaluate candidates’ research and teaching ability. Keya Ganguly (professor, cultural studies and comparative literature department), Wayne Gladfelter (associate dean for academic affairs) and John Archer (CSCL chair), comment.
Minnesota Daily
http://www.mndaily.com/2013/02/18/prospective-faculty-members-audition
Research
States driven toward 'zero death' crash goal
A new study by the University of Minnesota evaluating the effectiveness of zero-death programs found that the states that have worked the longest promoting the four "E's" of safety — enforcement, education, engineering and emergency medical services — have been the most successful at reducing crash fatalities.
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/ct-met-getting-around-0218-20130218,0,2144152.column
Business and Politics
Comcast's rate increase masked by 'drip pricing'
Another year. Another Comcast rate increase. Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, raised the price of cable television service in the Twin Cities for 2013 by an average of about 3.3 percent for all its packages. George John, an expert on marketing and consumer behavior at the U of M's Carlson School of Management, comments.
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/popular/ci_22610848/comcasts-rate-increase-masked-by-drip-pricing?source=most_viewed
Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2013/02/18/comcast-rates-go-up-for-2013.html
Research questions return on corporate political cash
The fight over corporate political donations is evolving from whether such gifts are in the public’s interest to whether they’re even in the interest of the companies themselves. A pair of University of Minnesota finance professors [Rajesh Aggarwal and Tracy Wang of the Carlson School of Management] looked at the question [and] found that on average, for every $10,000 a company donates to politics, its stock market value declines by $1.33 million in the next year.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/business/191473371.html?refer=y
Tevlin: New frac-sand job for Red Wing mayor is legal but dumb
Columnist Jon Tevlin speaks to ethicists in business and politics, including U of M professors Ian Maitland (Carlson School of Management) and Richard Painter (Law School) to see what they thought about possible conflict of interest of Red Wing mayor Dennis Egan's job lobbying for a frac-sand group.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/191548511.html
Tax experts, economists say Dayton's business sales tax is a bad idea
Laura Kalambokidis, a University of Minnesota economics professor and tax expert, adds insight.
MinnPost
http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2013/02/tax-experts-economists-say-dayton-s-business-sales-tax-bad-idea
Talking points: The future of the Minnesota GOP
On Tuesday the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota will host a panel discussion on the future of the Republican Party. With big losses at the federal and state level, it’s a question many Republicans are asking themselves: What policies should the party embrace?
WCCO-TV
To Watch: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/02/17/talking-points-the-future-of-the-minnesota-gop/
People and Lifestyle
Gopher wrestler grapples with scholarship vs music conflict
One of the Golden Gophers' wrestlers [Joel Bauman] is grappling with a tough dilemma -- he's a musician who has released songs on iTunes and social media, and continuing to do so could put his scholarship in jeopardy [due to a violation of NCAA rules.] The U's compliance office comments.
Fox 9
To Watch: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/21228766/gopher-wrestle-grapples-with-ncaa-scholarship-vs-music-conflict
Commentary and Opinion
Long-term benefits of early ed are real
As momentum grows in support of funding early childhood education in Minnesota, and with President Obama encouraging Congress to do the same, it's important that we get the facts straight about the evidence in support of these investments. The University of Minnesota is currently overseeing a federal grant to replicate the Chicago Child-Parent Center model in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/191320681.html
Better pre-K leads to better schools
Arthur Reynolds, a professor of child development and director of the Midwest Expansion of the Child-Parent Centers in the Human Capital Research Collaborative at the University of Minnesota, writes that in order to make education reforms produce lasting gains two performance gaps must be addressed: the school readiness gap and reading proficiency.
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/18048893-452/better-pre-k-leads-to-better-schools.html?utm_source=February+8%2C+2013+News+Update+Advance+Illinois&utm_campaign=02-08-13+newsletter&utm_medium=email
Updates and Events
Vikings plan to play 2 cold seasons in outdoor stadium before moving into news stadium in 2016
Next season will be the Minnesota Vikings' last in the 31-year-old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome... Vikings vice president Lester Bagley said Friday that the team plans to play at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, while the team's new stadium gets built at the Metrodome site in downtown Minneapolis... A University spokesman stressed that the school and the team were still negotiating details, but said the deal would be finalized soon.
Star Tribune (via AP)
http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/191425271.html
KARE 11
To Watch: http://www.kare11.com/news/
Fox 9
To Watch: http://www.myfoxtwincities.
Meteorites have hit Minnesota
Minnesota is hardly immune to meteorite strikes like the one that impacted in Russia on Friday. However, experts say such disasters are very rare. Calvin Alexander, Ph.D., University of Minnesota Professor of Earth Science, comments.
KARE 11
To Watch: http://www.kare11.com/news/article/1011353/14/Expert-Many-chunks-of-meteorite-hit-Minn-each-year
Russian meteor offers a fascinating study at the U
University of Minnesota Astronomy Professor Bob Gehrz has seen a lot of things in his 28 years on the job. He says he hasn't seen anything like the video that went viral out of Russia.
KARE 11
To Watch: http://www.kare11.com/news/article/1011348/391/Russian-meteor-offers-a-fascinating-study-at-the-U?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large
Odds of meteor strike in Twin Cities are slim, says U professor
The 10-ton meteor that went "boom" Friday, Feb 15, over western Siberia wasn't big enough to cause a made-for-Hollywood disaster. But if something comparable were to make its way to the Twin Cities, Chick Woodward, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Minnesota's Minnesota astrophysics center, says, "it certainly would be a very bad day." But don't panic. The chances of that happening are slim [the professor says.]
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/minnesota/ci_22599465/university-minnesota-professor-odds-meteor-strike-twin-cities
Thriving peregrines have debt to Minn. fans
The Midwest Peregrine falcon nearly went extinct in the early 1960s, but the contributions of university professors over the past few decades helped restore the population through both natural and urban nesting sites. Patrick Redig, founder of the Minnesota Raptor Center, comments.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/191508101.html
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/minnesota/ci_22603546/thriving-peregrines-have-debt-minn-fans?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com
University of Minnesota sprinkler malfunction
A sprinkler malfunction at the in the University of Minnesota's Wallin Medical Bio-Science Building brought the Minneapolis Fire Department to campus. None of the labs in the building were affected and there is no biohazard threat, according to the University.
KSTP-TV
http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2934908.shtml
Contract negotiations course offered in March
Feb. 22 is the deadline to register for the Labor Studies Skills Course, “Contract Negotiations,” on March 2 and 9. Offered by the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service, the course will be taught by Tony DeAngelis. Sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day on the West Bank of the University’s Minneapolis campus.
Workday Minnesota
http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_5438